Brendan Toughey is the CAPITAL ONE Academic All-American of the Year in Baseball

BEREA, OHIO -- Baldwin Wallace University graduated senior Brendan Toughey (East Amherst, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) is the 2013 CAPITAL ONE Academic All-American of the Year in the sport of baseball. It is the final honor in one of the most celebrated careers by a student-athlete in Yellow Jacket history. The award is voted on by CoSIDA (the College Sports Information Director's of America) and symbolizes the most outstanding student-athlete in Division III baseball.

Toughey, who has a 3.92 grade point average in BW's 3:2 Master's of Accounting Program, is the 84th BW student-athlete to receive CAPITAL ONE Academic All-America honors since the program's inception in 1970. He also is the 17th Yellow Jacket to earn the honor twice and the fourth to be named as a CAPITAL ONE Academic All-American of the Year and first since 1991-1992. BW has produced more CAPITAL ONE Academic All-Americans than any other Ohio Athletic Conference institution and is among the Division III leaders.

"The University would like to congratulate Brendan on having both an outstanding season and career at Baldwin Wallace," said President Robert C. Helmer. "His work on campus, in the classroom and on the baseball field was excellent. He exemplifies the NCAA Division III philosophy of the student-athlete and is a great example for our younger student-athletes to follow."

This season, Toughey batted a team-leading .410 (66-for-161) with a single-season school-records with 66 runs scored and 66 hits. He also added 13 doubles, four triples, four home runs, 28 runs batted-in and 20 stolen bases in 22 attempts. In addition to having a team-leading .615 slugging and .490 on-base averages, he handled 63 fielding chances without making an error. He twice earned OAC Player of the Week honors (March 5 and April 15) and was named to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week on April 16. He helped the Yellow Jackets tie the single-season school-record for victories and compile a 27-13 record.

Toughey ended his career with a .356 career batting average (161-for-452) with a school career-record 153 runs scored, 31 doubles, six triples, five home runs, 65 runs batted-in (RBI) and 54 stolen bases in 56 attempts. He was successful on his first 42 steal attempts of his career. As a junior and senior, BW compiled a 54-26 record and an 88-66-1 mark during his four seasons in the Brown & Gold.

"Brendan was just amazing and we are so pleased that he is being honored for his excellence" said third-year Head Coach Brian Harrison, who has led BW to a 71-43 mark, including back-to-back school-record 27-win seasons. "He is a big, big reason for our success the past four years, and we will miss his leadership on campus, in the classroom and on the field.

"Whether it is a test in a class or a baseball practice or game, Brendan worked extremely hard to be the best he could be and to lead by-example," continued Harrison. "His intelligence and work ethic made him a success and a leader at BW, and it will make him a success and a role model after he graduates with his Master's degree. We will miss him sorely next season."

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